Everything Mestizo
(Mestizo is a mixture or even clashing of cultures/realities forging something totally new)
"...whoever is in Christ is a new creation." 2 Cor. 5:17

Monday, July 04, 2005

Right State, Wrong City

This past Friday, I boarded a plane eager to visit Bible School of the Americas in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Albert Reyes is a rising leader in the Baptist world, and I was very excited to get some time with him.

I made it to San Antonio with no problem, and when I arrived at baggage claim, I knew I was to to catch a short taxi ride to this resort in Grapevine, TX. I figured it was right outside of San Antonio but when I asked a cab driver if he could take me there, he said, "Sure, but it's a three hundred mile drive!"

I immediately pulled out my email from Gabriel, Albert's assistant to see what had gone wrong, and sure enough, at the end of the email it said, in what seemed to be small print, "make your flight into DFW airport." DFW is Dallas, not San Antonio. I quickly called to let Gabriel know where I was, and they scrambled to come up with plan B in case I would not make it by 4 pm to speak. It was 1 pm and I now had to find a way to Dallas (other than by taxi).

To make matters worse, there was bad weather in Dallas and all flights were being delayed. I overheard one person say no flight would get there until at least 5 pm- I was so angry for making this mistake. Fortunately, I got onto a flight that departed at 2:30 pm (weather passed) and I arrived at DFW by 3:30 pm ready to head to my speaking engagement.

Once there, I had a chance to address a group of Latino Baptist leaders and expose them to the philosophy of CCDA, and also address the need for the Latino church to engage in doing justice, especially as it relates to the need for immigration reform in our nation.

At this amazing resort, they had replicas of the Space Center in Houston, the Alamo and the Riverwalk in San Antonio, all under a huge atrium that had the feel of a small enclosed city. If I had known I was going to see the Alamo in Dallas, I never would have flown to San Antonio in the first place.